Earlier this year, Wired Jamaica reported that African and Caribbean nations were set to launch a transformative AI Education hub.
The African Export-Import Bank's Board approved financing for the hub.
P.J. Patterson, the Statesman in Residence at the PJ Patterson Institute for Africa-Caribbean Advocacy, announced this during a symposium at the University of the West Indies in Kingston.
Speaking on "Educational Transformation in Africa and the Caribbean," Patterson, who served as prime minister of Jamaica from 1992 to 2006, described a vision for addressing key developmental challenges in the region.
The initiative stemmed from a challenge posed by Benedict Oramah, president and chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Export–Import Bank, at last year's Afreximbank Annual Meeting in Nassau.
The Institute, alongside its Distinguished Scholars, has since worked diligently to establish this AI project.
The approved hub aims to be a central point for research, digital learning, and innovation, empowering African and Caribbean peoples to become active players in the global technology landscape.
On June 11, 2025, Our Today shared the full address by Patterson on the "Africa-Caribbean Hub for Generative Intelligence Development" during the launch of the AI project at the University of the West Indies.
Fasnews reported on June 30 that Dr. Gladstone Hutchinson, principal director of the African-Caribbean AI project, met with other key figures at the Afreximbank Annual Meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, to discuss the initiative.
Coordinated by the PJ Patterson Institute, the project intends to develop advanced AI ecosystems in both regions.
The goal is to foster industrial modernization and create jobs by establishing AI-enabled industries, training centers, and data infrastructure that leverage local resources and talent.
Former Nigerian President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo praised the initiative as a crucial step toward digital sovereignty and economic emancipation, stating that Africa and the Caribbean must transition from being consumers to co-creators of technology.
In January 2025, Afreximbank, in collaboration with the African Union Commission and AfCFTA Secretariat, launched its new initiative the “African Research and Innovation Hub @IATF” during the 4th Intra-African Trade Fair.
The platform aims to provide an opportunity for African, Caribbean, and Diaspora lecturers, students, and researchers to showcase innovative research and prototypes that contribute towards intra-African trade and industrialization.
It also seeks to develop industry collaborations and exchange knowledge with leading professionals in the field during IATF2025 in Algiers, Algeria from September 4-10, 2025.
The African Research and Innovation Hub @IATF aims to promote and commercialize African research and innovation.
It also acknowledges that there are many talented and creative Africans across Africa, the Caribbean, and the Diaspora, who have brilliant ideas, concepts, publications, and prototypes but lack the relevant support required to help them nurture their ideas and commercialize them.